A dog called Minou stands in the water of the Lustgarten fountain in front of Berlin Cathedral during the historic heatwave that has seen nations across Europe break temperature records for this time of year — including Germany, which set a record two days in a row. Photo by Clemens Bilan/EPA
June 27 (UPI) — Europe may have to brace for even broken records as the historic heat wave that has roasted the continent over the last week is unlikely to let up.
Temperatures in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands all set heat records on Friday, and events in both Spain and France were cancelled, while most of central Europe issued the latest in days of warnings about the dangerous temperatures, The BBC and The Washington Post reported.
Although some meteorologists, including those in the United Kingdom, have said that temperatures in some areas will start cooling off, forecasters in Czechia, Austria and some Balkan nations are bracing for their own broken heat records this weekend.
The heat wave, which experts at the World Meteorological Organization have called the worst in Europe since the mid-1970s, reinforces what the organization has called “the world’s most rapidly warming continent.”
“In the 50 years since the historic heatwave of 1976, Europe as a whole has warmed by around two degrees,” John Kennedy, head of climate information at WMO, said in a press release.
“It’s the fastest warming continent, and extremes of temperature have increased, too,” Kennedy said.
France this week recorded it’s hottest June temperature three days in a row, the United Kingdom and Spain set records two days in a row, and Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands all saw historic June heat records fall.
The WMO said on Friday that it expects the heatwave to keep spreading cross large swaths of Western, Central and Southern Europe during the next two weeks, with a significant focus of the heat expected to blast the Balkans.
WMO said that Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania all should expect heat that is 3 degrees Celsius to 10 degrees Celsius above weekly June averages.
